Off the wire
• 1st Ld: China's new yuan loans up in Q1  • Weather forecast for world cities -- April 14  • Togolese presidential candidates kick off electoral campaigns  • ATP Monte Carlo Masters results  • British companies see political uncertainty, risk from election: survey  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- April 14  • 47 arrested for trafficking in drugs in SW China  • Draw for Round 2 of 2018 World Cup, 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers  • Messi discusses goals and family on Barca website  • China to strengthen ideological education at grassroots  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: WTO predicts modest trade recovery to continue in 2015

Xinhua, April 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

WTO economists Tuesday announced growth in the volume of world merchandise trade will pick up only slightly over the next two years, rising from 2.8 percent in 2014 to 3.3 percent in 2015 and eventually to 4.0 percent in 2016.

WTO predicted trade expansion will therefore remain well below the annual average of 5.1 percent posted since 1990.

"Trade growth has been disappointing in recent years, due largely to prolonged sluggish growth in GDP following the financial crisis. Looking forward we expect trade to continue its slow recovery but with economic growth still fragile and continued geopolitical tensions, this trend could easily be undermined," said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo.

According to WTO's statistics, the modest gains in 2014, marked the third consecutive year in which trade grew less than 3 percent. Trade growth averaged just 2.4 percent between 2012 and 2014, the slowest rate on record for a three year period when trade was expanding. Endti